Behind the Scenes Moments
by 09Lakersluva5088
Summary: This is a collection of one shots that tell the stories of background scenes during different moments in the Heroes of Olympus series. From Percy getting his new Praetor robes, to preparations on the Argo II for meeting with the Romans, and more!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters.

Note: This is my first _Percy__Jackson_ fanfiction, so please be kind! This is meant to be a series of moments in the series, mostly scenes in between the scenes in the book. Kind of like a behind the scenes.

Please Review!

Note: This happens after the battle at the end of Son of Neptune but the day of the ceremony where Percy becomes an official Camp Jupiter camper and a day or two before the arrival of _Argo__II_.

…

Chapter 1: New Robes

The sun rose on the camp's battered grounds, evidence of the war that had transpired only days before. Roman style buildings rose out of ground, some burnt and broken, others slightly blackened from fire. It was unusually quiet and peaceful as the residents of this modern Rome rested after the celebrations that had raged into the night the day before. Even the demigods and legacies were not up as usual as they slept their exhaustion away.

Inside the Fifth Cohort slept the heroes who had made the victory from two nights ago possible. One in particular, was the black haired boy slumbering away on his cot. He slept on his back, his shaggy unruly hair partially falling over his eyelids. His eyelids were hiding the brilliant sea green eyes that served to show his heritage as a son of Poseidon, Neptune for the Romans.

He lay peacefully, smiling his typical silly grin in his sleep.

He was for the moment, at peace.

But not for long.

There was a quick firm knock on the door to the room.

The boy didn't stir from his slumber.

After a moment's silence, an impatient sigh was heard from the other side of the door. The door was pushed open and in entered a beautiful dark haired girl. She strode in royal purple robes. The girl stopped in front of the black haired boy's bed and took a glance at his sleeping form. She then turned to look over at the small table beside the bed. Standing on the table was a folded faded orange t-shirt and a leather strap with four beads strung on the string. Beside the shirt was a pile of purple robes thrown hastily on the table. The girl frowned at this lackadaisical treatment of the camp leader's robes and placed her hands on her hips as she turned back at the sleeping boy.

"Praetor Percy," she called out sternly.

When he didn't respond she called again, this time more forcefully, "Percy, wake up! Praetors aren't supposed to sleep in!"

Despite her rather noisy orders, the boy named Percy didn't even flicker an eyelid.

Finally, giving up, she reached out to his shoulder and shook him roughly.

After a few violent tugs, the boy opened his eyes, revealing his sea green eyes. He raked a hand through his hair and yawned. He then turned his head and lifted it to see the girl in the purple and gold robes glaring down at him with her arms crossed.

He swung his legs around the bed and sat facing her on the bed. He then raised his face to hers and gave her a sheepish grin.

"Eh, good morning, Reyna," Percy greeted.

She sighed as she lowered her arms and stated, "As Praetor, you should have been awake and ready by now."

He scratched his head and inquired, "For what?"

"For the ceremony today! And the senate meeting in a couple days! Where you'll have to make a case for welcoming the Greeks instead of shooting them down like Octavian is suggesting!" Reyna snapped.

Percy tensed at the mention of Octavian and his eyes became more serious. He muttered quiet, "Right, we need to keep Octavian from having them skewered."

Reyna didn't need to add anymore to her explanation; Percy knew the importance of this day.

"Okay, sorry. So what do I need to do to be ready?" he asked as he stood up and gave her a determined expression on his face.

Reyna reached over for the set of robes on the table, then reached her arms out to Percy with the robes in her arms, declaring, "First things first, you need to put these on. Then I'll give a rundown of today's meeting and your responsibilities…"

But Percy wasn't listening. He had already grabbed the cloth and was holding it up peering at the folds of the robes. He was trying with little success to find out how the toga was supposed to be worn. He stuck his head through a gaping hole and faced her, the robe in between them, "How are you supposed to get this dress on?"

His co-Praetor frowned, "It's a toga, Percy."

He frowned as he looked at the second piece, the cape. He began to hold the two pieces up to his face and studied them, trying to figure out the secret of this contraption.

Reyna watched his struggled at finding where the toga was supposed to be slipped on with growing impatience and annoyance. She let out an exasperated sigh before turning to the cot on the other side of the room, "Centurion Zhang, kindly assist your new Praetor with his robes."

Frank Zhang, who had been sleeping quietly, woke up with a start. He jumped off the bed and stood in battle position as if ready for a fight. Seeing Percy's struggle with the robes and Reyna's impatient glare at the son of Neptune, he quickly approached his friend and offered to help.

Percy sighed and responded, "Thanks, Frank."

Frank smiled as he took the robes and began to fix them and find where Percy would slip his head through.

From behind Reyna, a voice boom, "Brother need help to dress?"

Percy grimaced, "Guess so, big guy. But don't tell Annabeth, I'd never live this down."

"Aw, that was the first thing I was going to tell her!" Frank teased.

Percy shot him a glare as Tyson, his younger brother, stomped in and stopped beside Reyna.

Frank finally managed to find the correct way to slip on the robes. He held the robes for Percy as Percy reached to remove his shirt. Just as he was about to pull the shirt off, he gave Reyna a look to leave before he changed. Reyna merely rolled his eyes, "Come on Jackson, hurry up and dress."

Percy frowned and removed his shirt but quickly covered his bare torso with the Camp Jupiter purple t-shirts. Frank handed him the robes and Percy slipped them over his head and over his shorts. Frank and Tyson helped to straighten up the robes as Reyna observed the process. Frank then brought over the cape and gently connected the cape to Percy's robes. After finishing with his work Frank stood back to admire their new Praetor.

Percy Jackson truly looked every bit the part of a Roman leader, maybe even an emperor.

Unfortunately, he ruined that image as he attempted to take a step forward. His feet caught onto the bottom of the toga and he nearly fell face first onto the floor when a strong arm saved him from his fall. Percy looked up to see a grinning Tyson holding him by his back and pulling Percy up to a standing position.

"Thanks, Tyson. These robes need getting used to, though," he remarked.

Before Reyna could speak, there was a knock on the door. Percy called out, "Come in."

A curly haired girl stepped in. She smiled widely at Tyson and Percy, and gave Frank a quick peck on the cheek. She then turned to greet Reyna before the female Praetor began her thorough observation over Percy's new look.

"Good, but something has to be done with that messy mop you call your hair," Reyna noted as she looked Percy up and down.

Percy's hands flew up to his hair and he gave her a bewildered look, "Not the hair!"

Reyna didn't respond but merely ordered, "Comb."

Hazel gave Percy an apologetic expression before procuring a comb and handing it over to the outstretched arm of her Praetor.

Reyna then began to advance on Percy as if advancing on a soldier in a battle. She held the comb up as he began to back away from her. This resulted in him slipping again but luckily he fell onto his bed.

He then looked up pleadingly to Reyna, "Come on, you my hair can't be tame. Leave it alone. It looks great, Annabeth loved it."

The dark haired girl standing in front of him responded, "As the new Praetor of Camp Jupiter, the campers expect a well-dressed and well-disciplined leader. That means keeping your hair from looking so unruly!"

"Sorry," Percy stated quickly and he raised his arms in surrender.

Reyna sighed and then handed the comb to Percy, who attempted for a good ten minutes to fix his hair. But for some reason, he just could not flatten his hair or make it less messy than it was in the beginning. In fact, for all his efforts, Percy just seemed to be making his hair even worse.

The others watched his struggle with his hair, Reyna with impatience, the others with amusement.

Finally, Reyna gave up and said exasperatedly, "Oh, just leave the hair alone. We have a very long day ahead of us today."

She said this as she turned to walk out of door. Percy merely returned the comb back to Hazel and attempted to stumble after his co-Praetor.

"It is going to be one long day today," he muttered to himself as he followed Reyna out of the Fifth Cohort to ready for the ceremony for that night and for the senate bloodbath Octavian would no doubt instigate at the senate meeting coming up in two days.

But for now his first responsibility as Praetor was to make sure he doesn't fall every time he takes a step in his toga.

Unfortunately, he managed to fall down right in front of the Fifth Cohort, and again at the training grounds, and etc.

There really was no hope for Percy Jackson sometimes.

…

First Chapter!

Please Reveiew!


	2. Chapter 2

Note: I don't own any of the characters. I don't own _Percy__ Jackson__ and__ the __Olympians_ or _Heroes__ of__ Olympus._

Note: Well, here's chapter 2! Enjoy!

Please review!

…

Chapter 2: Preparing for the Diplomatic Visit

Only about a couple of hours away from its destination, the _Argo __II_ was already bustling with kids running back and forth in a frenzy, preparing for the landing and greeting their former enemies who had become their new allies and their only hope for success on the quest to save mankind. Half-blood campers were rushing around, some cleaning up, some readying themselves for the diplomatic aspect of the visit; others preparing for what would follow the visit should the diplomatic endeavor fail.

Of course, it should be mentioned, that those preparing for the more violent approach were the children of Ares.

"Clarisse, we have to encourage peace talks with the Romans, not electrocute them with your spear!" a blonde-haired girl yelled exasperatedly as her unusually dull grey eyes stared angrily at the big burly girl who was calmly inspecting her spear.

"You never know, Princess. If things go sour, we may need to fight and get ourselves out of there," the girl named Clarisse explained as she raised her spear to inspect the tip.

Before the blonde-haired girl could retort, a mischievous voice behind her said, "I hate to say this, Annabeth, but Clarisse is right. We have to be ready for anything."

The girl named Annabeth rolled her eyes as she turned to the two grinning brothers who had just walked up behind her. They were each holding a bulky bag in each of their hands. Clarisse stopped her inspection to look up at the third boy who was trailing behind the two brothers, a Hispanic boy. He waved over to the two girls, stepped around Annabeth, and placed himself next to Clarisse. Annabeth nodded to him as he passed then focused her attention back on the two grinning brothers.

"I take it that those bags contain what you two believe will help us be ready for anything?" Annabeth questioned with a knowing look in her eyes.

"Yup!" the first boy said eagerly as the second boy gave her a thumbs-up.

"Travis and I have prepared everything in case the peace talks fall apart and we have to make a daring and heroic escape," the other boy said.

"With stink bombs, I'm guessing?" Annabeth asked with a raised eyebrow.

The one named Travis shrugged, "Hey, whatever works."

His brother, Connor, added, "And we've got even more planned!"

Annabeth sighed, "Guys, this is supposed to be peaceful. This is supposed to be a set of peaceful negotiations!"

Clarisse and the two brothers deadpanned as the third boy shook his head.

Travis finally answered, "I'm sorry, but we are not yet familiar to this new method of negotiations. Until then, we'll stick to what works best."

"And that is?" Annabeth asked annoyed with her arms crossed.

"The violent and painful method!" Travis and Connor simultaneously retorted as they waved the bags in her face.

Annabeth didn't step back as they waved the bags in her face; she merely stared at them, waiting for them to stop. But they didn't seem to get the message.

Travis then pulled a long sheet of paper out of his pockets and began to scan his eyes over the words written on the paper. Connor leaned over his brother's shoulder and read the lines as he nodded reassuringly.

Clarisse, Annabeth, the Hispanic boy named Chris all watched as the two boys were muttering quietly to each other.

"Yes, yes, this is good," Travis muttered.

"I agree, let's not forget to add this. Oh and this!" Connor added as he pointed to something else on the list.

"And make sure you bring the rat poison," Travis reminded his brother.

"Right, and the…," Connor continued.

The others stared blankly at the twins.

"They've been at this for days," Chris explained.

"I know this is a risky move, but I'm still going to ask. What is with the list? And what are you planning?" Annabeth demanded in an irritated voice.

Travis and Connor glanced over to her seriously and slowly lowered the list. Travis gave her a reassuring look while saying, "Oh, these are just our plans should the talks go sour and the Romans try to kill us or take us prisoner."

Annabeth frowned slightly before turning to the blond haired boy who had just walked up to the group. Alongside him walked the captain of the ship, Leo, and a pretty dark haired girl, Piper.

"What's going on?" the blonde haired boy, Jason, asked as he stopped beside Clarisse and Chris.

Chris sighed, but before he could explain the situation to the three Travis interrupted him and explained the brilliance of their foresight, "We are planning our tactics should the 'diplomatic negotiations' fail with the Roman campers."

Annabeth brought a hand to rub her forehead, "I have already thought about that, that is why Jason is here with us. He is supposed to be our way to gain the Roman's trust and to make peace with them."

But it seemed as if the two brothers had barely been listening to her, "Jason is the key to our success!"

"Guys, Annabeth just said that," Piper added confused as the others gave the two brothers annoyed looks.

But the brothers just ignored Piper and looked to each other excitedly with Travis asking his brother, "Connor, do you have the drawings?"

"Why yes I do! Right here!" Connor replied smiling evilly as he pulled a crumbled piece of paper out of the back of his cargo pants.

"Excellent! Show it to them, Connor! Show our brilliance! Our genius!" Travis announced loudly.

At this point, some of the other campers were seriously considering walking away from this madness. Clarisse was actually considering throwing her spear through the two brothers. Annabeth was contemplating using her knife on them. In fact, the only one interested was Leo. But before any maiming or escaping could happen, the brothers shoved the large piece of paper in front of the group forcing the group to look at the crudely drawn plan.

On the crumpled piece of paper was a badly drawn picture of the two brothers holding up a blonde boy screaming. The two Stoll brothers were standing on a green colored area with a few boxes labeled with question marks. Surrounding the brothers and the blonde kid in their arms were other orange-shirted people and across from them stood people frowning in purple t-shirts. Underneath the green part that apparently represented the grass was a label that read, "The Roman Camp."

"What's with the question marks?" Piper questioned.

"Well, this is just a rough sketch of what the Roman camp looks like since Jason still doesn't quite remember the entire schematics of the place," Travis explained.

Jason gave them an annoyed look for reminding him of his inability to remember much of his past. The others stayed silent with blank faces.

"But never mind that, back to the plan!" Connor insisted.

An arrow pointed to the next image in the plan. In the second picture, the brothers were holding the blonde boy and the other Camp-Half-blood campers had knives and swords pointing at the boy. Another arrow pointed to what happened next, with the brothers still holding the blonde boy captive aboard a badly drawn rendition of the _Argo__II_. Another arrow pointed to the blonde boy being dropped from the ship onto the ground where people labeled 'The Romans' were standing. The final arrow pointed to an image showed the blonde boy laying unconscious on the ground as the Greeks looked on triumphantly on the _Argo__ II_ and the Romans looked up furiously at the Greeks.

Silence followed as the Stoll brothers grinned wickedly.

Annabeth swallowed hard and tried to keep her voice level and her anger to minimum, "What exactly is going on?"

"And I thought you were the smart one, Annabeth," Travis teased.

Annabeth glared and the two brothers backed off slightly with Travis apologizing, "Sorry, you are the smartest of them all."

The two brothers raised their hands towards Annabeth in mock respect and gave her slight bows. Annabeth, more annoyed than satisfied, just snapped, "Just get on with it."

The brothers snapped up to face the others and happily began their explanation.

"Well, if the Romans decide to attack us," Travis began.

"We thought about how we could get away on the _Argo __II_ in one piece," Connor added.

"So we thought that the best strategy is…," Travis continued.

"To take a hostage!" Connor finished happily.

"A hostage?" Jason asked incredulously,

The Stoll brothers turned to glare at the blonde haired Roman, "Can we finish?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes and stated, "Jason, let them explain their ridiculous idea and then we can all go back to doing something productive with our time."

"Thanks-I mean-hey!" Travis responded indignantly.

Annabeth and the others just motioned the two brothers to continue.

"Fine, we will continue. But no more interruptions," Connor stated as he gazed sternly onto the other campers.

"Just go on," they ordered impatiently.

"Good. So we thought about taking a hostage and using that hostage to get safely back on the _Argo__ II_ and leave. Then we had to consider who to take on as a hostage," Travis explained.

"So we remembered about how Jason said that the Roman camp will probably be choosing a new Platter…," Connor continued until he was interrupted by Jason.

"Praetor," Jason corrected with an annoyed look on his face.

Connor waved his hand flippantly, "Whatever."

"Anyway," Travis continued but not before he threw Jason a dirty glare, "Jason thinks that there is going to be a new _Praetor_ in his place. And from what we have managed to salvage of Jason's patchwork of memories is that this new Praetor will probably be the alleged weasel of the Romans, Octavoos."

"Octavian," Jason murmured with a grimace.

"Wait, what kind of person is he? Should we be worried?" Annabeth asked hurriedly, this being the first time Jason had mentioned Octavian's name to her, since he had only recently remembered the blonde haired augur of the Roman camp.

"To put it plainly, he is a weasel. And if he is Praetor, then yes, you should be worried. He'll twist your words and probably make you out as a spy or a traitor," Jason explained grimly.

Annabeth and Clarisse frowned while the others, save for the Stoll brothers, became slightly more nervous about today's meeting.

"Right," Connor added ignoring the interruption, "But then we thought that nobody would miss him if we grab him and use him as a hostage. That would be an epic fail. In fact, the Romans might even thank us for taking him hostage or throwing him overboard and breaking every bone in his body. Of course, the Romans could be so happy to see Octavian gone or pummeled to death that they might even renegotiate with us and make friends with us…"

Travis cut, "Connor, you're rambling."

Connor smiled slightly and responded, "So sorry, brother. Please continue."

"So we decided that the Octavian guy was out of the question, we want to escape the Romans, not make them happy or thank us!" Travis explained dramatically.

Annabeth looked annoyed, "But that is exactly what we want! To become friends!"

Clarisse turned to Jason and asked suddenly, "Would the Romans actually thank us if we beat up that Octavian guy?"

Jason shrugged, "All I remember is that most of the campers were afraid of him and hated him."

Clarisse nodded slowly.

"You're not actually considering that plan, are you?" Chris asked.

"Maybe, I always liked the violent options more," Clarisse answered simply before turning back to her spear for about the millionth time.

"Aren't you done polishing that spear?" Leo asked randomly, "I mean, you've been looking at the same spear for the last hour."

"So?" Clarisse asked threateningly.

"Nothing," Leo said quickly.

Annabeth gave them a warning look and reluctantly motioned the brothers to finish.

"So then we thought that maybe we'd kidnap that hot chick Praetor, Reyna," Travis added with a smirk.

This time all the campers turned to a blushing Jason who tried hide his embarrassment.

Piper looked jealous; the others looked amused mixed in with astonished that Jason would even describe a girl he hardly remembered as 'hot'.

"I didn't say she was hot! I just remembered people at camp describing her as really pretty," he defended.

Piper gave him a hard look, Annabeth and Clarisse gave him disbelieving looks, and guys all gave him smirks.

"Hate to interrupt this hilarious moment with Jason," Connor interjected, "But we still have more to explain."

He smiled as the others minus his brother groaned.

"Reyna would work, but then we had a horrible, awful thought come to us," Travis stated dramatically as Connor placed a hand reassuringly on his brother's shoulder.

Connor lowered his head as Travis looked up sadly, "What if the Romans had managed to outdo us and held Percy captive?"

At this Annabeth's face paled slightly. Piper gave her a sympathetic look and the rest of the group threw glares towards the brothers for their insensitive comment.

"Don't worry Annabeth, we thought that scenario through. And this new plan is why we mentioned earlier that Jason was the key to our success! We just grab Jason, make him our hostage and demand Percy's safe return. Since Jason is their hero, they must love him enough to let go of Percy. We'll point a few knives and swords at Jason's chest and we'll threaten to kill him on the spot! And we'll promise to release Jason as long as they hand over Percy in preferably one piece. Then, once we get on the _Argo __II_, instead of throwing Jason overboard, we keep him! That way, we escape with our butts intact and you get your romantic and touching reunion with Percy, and we will still have Jason for the quest! It's brilliant!"

Silence followed.

Annabeth's face was blank.

Jason looked slightly pale.

Piper, Leo, and Chris were speechless.

Clarisse just stared.

"What?" the two brothers asked.

"You want to take me as a hostage?" Jason demanded quietly.

"How is that going to get 'foes to bear arms' together?" Piper questioned.

"What about the negotiations?" Annabeth demanded, annoyed that she had allowed them to waste so much of her time.

"Screw the negotiations! If the Romans were smart, they'll work with us. If not, they'll probably try to kill us. We're the ones being intelligent and thinking ahead," Travis defended.

"Yeah, we're going to show those Romans just how smart we Greek are," Connor boasted.

Annabeth groaned and brought a hand to her face, probably regretting allowing the Stoll brothers to accompany the Camp Half-blood campers to Roman camp.

"No need to thank us," the Stoll brothers exclaimed, obviously missing the exasperated expression from Annabeth and the blank stares the others were giving them, "Just doing our duty."

"Now come on, Travis, we have to prepare our other 'welcome acts' for the Romans," Connor said as his brother snickered.

They marched off triumphantly.

"That was interesting," Piper murmured.

"They want to use me as a hostage," Jason repeated.

"We are so dead," Annabeth muttered, "They'll ruin everything."

"And even if Percy wasn't already in danger at Camp Jupiter, he probably will be after the Stolls' antics," Leo added, although he regretted it when he saw Annabeth's face pale and her frown widen.

No one said anything for a moment.

"Maybe we can lock the Stolls downstairs until after the first meeting with the Roman campers," Chris offered, breaking the silence, "Or better yet, until the end of the quest."

The others nodded in agreement.

Now that was a plan worthy of Athena.

…...

Note: Well, that's the end! I hope you enjoyed! Please review!


	3. Chapter 3

Note: Sorry for the long wait. This is supposed to be during the _Lost Hero_ after Annabeth returns from the search for Percy after Jason, Piper, and Leo left on their quest.

Note: I don't own any of the characters. And I don't own _Percy Jackson and the Olympians_ or the _Heroes of Olympus_.

…

Chapter 3: Coping

Annabeth landed the black pegasus on the grounds of Camp Half-Blood. She sighed as the winged horse whinnied tiredly. Lowering herself to the ground, Annabeth turned and patted the pegasus's neck, "Sorry."

The pegasus turned his head toward her and Annabeth could have sworn he was giving her a depressed and frustrated expression through his dark eyes. Either Annabeth was imagining things or being the girlfriend to the camp's resident son of Poseidon was making his powers rub off on her.

Annabeth's shoulders drooped but she continued to stroke the winged horse's mane as she said quietly, "I know, Blackjack, I miss him too."

"Annabeth!" a voice behind her called.

She turned to see Butch and Will running towards her. They stopped in front of her and panted as they tried to catch their breaths. Annabeth gave them hard stares, as if daring them to ask about the search or the failure of said search. Seeing that she was clearly not in the mood for questions, and seeing that Percy was not currently at her side, they gave her sympathetic expressions at her failure. Annabeth hated sympathetic looks, so she began to glare at the two boys. They took the hint and simply gave her expression-less faces, the safest expression they could give without suffering Annabeth's stares or worse, her wrath. Annabeth's glare slipped and she sighed tiredly while Butch took the chance to take Blackjack to the stables and turned to Will, "Any news," she questioned without much hope.

Will shook his head and gave her a quick apologetic look, but then became excited, "Jason, Leo, and Piper returned from their quest and it went well."

Annabeth felt relieved that the three newest campers had returned safe and had completed their first quest successfully. She frowned and thought sourly that unfortunately Hera had managed to escape.

Seeing that Annabeth was still quiet as they made their way to the cabins, Will took this as a sign to continue, "Jason said he has some news about the prophecy of the seven and what he's learned from Hera."

Annabeth turned to him with an interested look and beckoned him to continue.

"Chiron's calling for a meeting with all the counselors this evening," Will added, "Rachel is coming; she should be here in an hour."

Annabeth nodded, at least she could vent her frustrations and worries to the red-haired oracle, and maybe Rachel had found some news about Percy's disappearance, "I'll see you then."

Will nodded. Before he turned, he hesitated but finally said, "And Annabeth, get some rest. You need to keep up your health. He wouldn't want you to wear yourself out."

Anger flared inside her briefly, she hated anyone interfering with her choices, but then she reprimanded herself and cooled down her anger. Will had only meant it out of kindness, not because he had wanted to interfere with her life. She really need to reign in that pride of hers sometimes. So instead she gave Will a quick, "Yeah," and then slipped into her cabin.

Stepping inside her cabin, Annabeth looked around the room. The cabin was empty; no doubt her siblings had already left to their morning classes. Annabeth crossed the cabin floor and stopped in front of her bunk. Slipping off her scarf, she plopped down on her bed and dropped her bag on the floor. Annabeth glanced over to her nightstand, and felt her heart clench at the picture on the wall above her nightstand. There she was smiling alongside Thalia and him. He was smiling widely with his arms around her and his sea green eyes giving the camera an amused look. After minutes of staring, Annabeth turned away and tried to ignore the hurt that threatened to come out in the open.

She remained in that position as she attempted to think of something that didn't involve him.

Needless to say, she didn't get much rest.

A couple hours later and Annabeth was standing outside the Big House, trying not to remember that the last meeting at the Big House, he'd been there. Now for the first time in years, there wouldn't be a counselor representing the Poseidon cabin at the counselor's meeting.

Annabeth shook her head to clear her thoughts. No sense in getting emotional or distracted. This meeting was important, this could finally answer where he was, she told herself.

So she took a deep breath and took a step inside, hoping that Jason had news about where he was.

As she walked in to the meeting room, she saw that only a few of the counselors had already arrived. They all stopped what they were doing and glanced up to her. She shook her head and sat down quickly. She tried to ignore the disappointed expressions on their faces, instead she stared straight ahead towards the door.

Minutes later and Rachel popped in with a reassuring smile and sat down. She gave Annabeth another "It's going to be okay" expression, which did little to lift Annabeth's spirits.

The others filed in and began to goof around. Annabeth was tempted to tell them to knock it off, but she reasoned that what they were doing meant no harm. He certainly wouldn't have said anything.

As Jason stepped in, Annabeth couldn't help but fix her eyes on him, trying to discern something from his expression. Unable to learn anythign from her stares, she waited for the meeting to begin.

While Jason explained Hera's schemes and what he remembered about himself, Annabeth felt her stomach fill with dread as the realization of what Jason was saying hit her. And it hit her hard, like she had slammed into a giant. Holding the sky was looking more and more appealing than this kind of anguish.

Jason turned to look at her as he finished, no doubt seeing that she had connected the dots in Hera's crazy plot.

When Jason announced her fears out loud, she felt like the whole world was crashing down on her and she could do nothing to stop it.

And Annabeth Chase's pride made her hate that she couldn't do anything.

He was gone, and probably didn't even remember her.

"Well then, to retrieve the missing hero we go!" Leo announced with an impish grin that made Annabeth want to strangle him.

"It's not that easy, Valdez," Butch interjected.

"Yeah, Jason said we could search for years and not find where the Roman camp is. And if we can't find the camp," Will began.

"We can't find Prissy," Clarisse finished with a frown.

Jason gave them a determined look, "I know it will be hard, maybe nearly impossible to do it. But we need to try, we need the Romans and based on what Hera implied, we need Percy Jackson. He and the others from the prophecy are at the other camp. We cannot succeed without all seven of the prophecy."

"Hera wouldn't send Percy to the other camp so we would never find him again, and she wouldn't tell us to join forces with the Roman camp if it was impossible to find it," Piper added.

No, she hadn't lost Percy, there was still hope. She owed it to him, he would have never given up on her and there was no way in Tartarus she was going to give up on him. With memory or not.

She stood and everyone fell silent, "Then there's little time to waste. We have a ship to build."

Everyone nodded and some grinned with hope and renewed confidence and purpose.

Leo jumped up and rubbed his hands together, "Let's get started shall we?"

And with that he sprinted out to get the Argo II drawings. Annabeth smiled at his enthusiasm as he came bounding back and dropped the plans on the ping pong table. Panting, Leo managed, "Alright my counselors, let's build my baby!"

Everyone gave him raised eyebrows, with Piper questioning, "Your baby?"

The son of Hephaestus grinned apologetically, "Sorry, our baby."

"So what do we need for supplies...," one of the counselors asked.

And so the planning on the Argo II began. The conversation consisted of pointing out parts of the ship on the drawing, listing supplies needed for conversation, arguments that broke out, yelling, and even some arguments nearly erupted into full on battles with swords and knives.

Annabeth smirked, and joined in on the conversation by bringing order to the group. As she organized the different responsibilities each cabin would take on for the next few months, she made a promise to Percy.

She would find him, no matter how long it took or how far it would take her.

And until then, she'd busy herself with this new project.

...

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	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, I don't own _Percy Jackson and the Olympians_ and I don't own _Heroes of Olympus_.

Note: This chapter focuses on Reyna towards the end of _Mark of Athena_, while she and the other Romans are staying at Manhattan. This was just something I thought could happen.

Enjoy! And please review!

…...

Chapter 4

Reyna sat stiffly as she watched Octavian and the others poring over maps and battle plans in the hotel room overlooking upper Manhattan. Octavian was looking frustrated; mostly because he had still been unable to find the location of the Greek camp. The other Romans were trying to hide how bored and tired they were; they had already decided it was hopeless, the magic hiding the camp too strong. Dakota was sipping kool-aid in the corner, while Gwen, who had volunteered to come since Frank and their new praetor, Percy, had left on the quest, was sitting near Reyna and kept telling Dakota to stop drinking the sugary drink and come help, even though she too looked like they were wasting their time. Dakota rolled his eyes and went back to chugging down it down. Gwen looked over to Reyna for orders, but Reyna was too tired care about Dakota's antics; she could barely deal with Octavian for any longer.

She felt exhausted. She was running the camp alone after her two praetors deserted her and now she had to deal with a revenge seeking Octavian. Additionally, she had been told the location of the camp by Percy's girlfriend, the daughter of Athena, and was now stalling for time until Annabeth managed to find what was keeping the two camps apart. She didn't even know how long she could keep this up.

And she wondered whether or not Annabeth could even succeed where others had failed.

"The magic shields are too strong," Gwen interrupted Reyna's thoughts, "Perhaps we should abandon this quest and return home. The Greeks could be sending a second force to catch us unprepared."

"Yeah, the traitors would have probably already warned the Greeks by now. They'll know we're coming," another officer pointed out.

Reyna hope these seeds of doubt would grow stronger and Octavian's influence would weaken. But Octavian sneered at the officer and merely replied, "And let Rome's honor remain tarnished? My love for Rome will not allow that, perhaps your love for your people is not strong enough."

The officer shook his head quickly, "No, of course not."

"Then be silent as I think," Octavian snapped.

So much for hope, he had them wrapped his bony little fingers.

"Praetor Reyna," Octavian interrupted her thoughts harshly, "Did the daughter of Athena say anything to you, and perhaps she may have slipped and given you the location of the camp."

Reyna gave him a stony look as she lied easily, "She is the daughter of wisdom goddess, augur, I doubt she would be stupid enough to give that information so easily. And I recommend you not underestimate the blonde girl again; we all know how that turned out."

Octavian's face reddened as the others smirked or chuckled; they all knew how the daughter of Athena had tricked the augur into falling for her dumb blonde act and then being trapped by Perseus Jackson's explosive water entrance.

Dakota chuckled as he added, "Yeah, Octavian, don't underestimate Praetor Jackson's blonde friend, she got your _podex_ kicked!"

"You mean Percy got his _podex_ kicked," Gwen reminded Dakota with a smirk.

Reyna kept the smile that threatened to come out under control and managed, "That is enough goofing around."

The others stopped laughing and turned back to their tasks. Octavian frowned but didn't continue.

The meeting went on like that for another hour with Octavian declaring at least ten more times why the honor of Rome had to be regained and how he had read the auguries that had lead them here. And the rest of the time was spent dropping hints of how the praetor should be replaced based on his auguries, and Reyna had to sternly order Octavian to get back to work or try to avoid responding to his hints.

Finally, she couldn't take it anymore.

She stood up and suddenly everyone's eyes were on her.

"Reyna, is something the matter?" Gwen questioned.

"I need to get some air, perhaps clear my head and figure out what we must do now," Reyna responded.

"But," Octavian began to protest.

"I realize the importance of this mission, augur, perhaps I will find some clues as to where the Greeks keep their fortress," the dark-haired praetor responded quickly before making her way of the room.

She changed into a purple camp T-shirt and jeans, and made her way down to the lobby.

As she stepped out of the lobby and onto the streets, she turned and made her way down the street, peering around the city. Looking up she could see the Empire State Building, and she could sense something important about that building and even Octavian had sensed something, bringing the group there yesterday only find nothing special about the doorman or the people in the lobby. And Reyna knew exactly where the Greeks were located, and it wasn't in the skyscraper overlooking New York City.

She made her way down the street towards a coffee shop when somebody gasped. Reyna snapped her head towards the sound, ready for a monster or a Greek demigod when she saw a dark-brown haired woman with blue eyes staring at her. Reyna looked down at what the woman was staring at and cursed; her t-shirt and her tattoo. She hadn't been thinking when she had dressed to go out; not remembering that this was Greek territory and that they might recognize her tattoo and shirt from Jason's own tattoo and his descriptions.

By this time, the woman had already rushed over to the Reyna. The woman stopped in front of Reyna and gave her a worried look, "I'm sorry if I startled you, but are you a Roman demigod?"

Reyna tried to think of a reply or a route of escape, but the woman didn't seem to mean harm, she was just curious.

"You are, I recognize the markings and the shirt from Annabeth's descriptions," the woman said, mostly to herself.

This caught Reyna's surprise, "Who are you?"

As she asked this question, Reyna peered closer at the woman; she seemed familiar even though Reyna knew they had never met.

"My son was supposed to be at the Roman camp, do you know what happened to him?" the woman questioned urgently.

"Who is your son?" Reyna asked though she had a feeling she knew the answer.

"Percy Jackson," the woman answered with a proud but sad smile.

Somehow Reyna ended up inside Percy's apartment sitting on the couch in the living room as Sally Jackson-Blofis, Percy's mother, was in the kitchen getting some blue cookies to eat (Reyna had immediately asked about the color and Sally Jackson-Blofis had been happy to oblige.) As the woman was inside the kitchen working, Reyna took the chance to look around the home. She was curious about where Percy Jackson came from and what made him who he was. And this might be the only opportunity she ever had to do so.

Walking around the room, she noted the light blue walls and the brightness of the place. But more than that, the home emanated warmth and family. Reyna began making her way around the room, glancing at the different pictures and items in the house. On the small table in front of the sofa were papers and manuscripts; on the shelf near the tv were an assortment of objects. There were shells and Greek coins, drachmas; along with pictures. One picture was of the woman in the kitchen, looking younger and happier, with her arms cradling a smiling baby with black hair and green eyes that Reyna suspected no one could forget. Beside that picture was one of Percy with Annabeth and a satyr. One that caught Reyna's eye was one with Percy, Annabeth, the satyr from before, and a Cyclops. Upon inspection, Reyna recognized the familiar happy grin that Percy's brother Tyson wore it seemed on a daily basis (at least when Percy was around). One of the last pictures show an older Percy with his arms wrapped around Annabeth, grinning at the camera.

"That was a month before he went missing," a woman's voice came from behind Reyna.

She turned around quickly, "I did not mean to…"

The woman smiled and waved her off, "No need to apologize, make yourself at home."

Reyna nodded and managed a smile; all the while wondering how this woman could be so kind to her, a Roman, who was threatening her son's friends.

Maybe she didn't know?

Sally seemed to have read her expression, "You're wondering why I don't just turn you in, why I haven't betrayed you to Camp Half-blood."

Taken aback, Reyna only managed a stiff nod before asking, "So you know?"

Percy's mother stared at her intently before saying, "Chiron keeps me updated; and we've known you were coming for a week."

"The seven told them," Reyna finished.

Sally Jackson nodded, "Chiron told me that eidolons had taken over Leo to cause trouble."

The dark haired teen's gaze hardened, "And it worked. The Romans are out for blood."

The woman seemed to be studying her before she spoke again, "But you believe them."

Reyna answered, "I trust your son; he helped the camp a great deal. And when I spoke to Annabeth, I could tell she was being honest with me."

Sally Jackson's eyes softened at the mention of her son and his girlfriend, "Then why not call off the attack, you need to work together for this to work, dear."

"It's not that easy," Reyna responded in a frustrated tone.

"Why not?" Sally questioned gently.

Reyna fell to the sofa and managed, "It's a long story."

"I have time," the woman sitting across from her replied.

The dark- haired teen looked up with widened eyes, "Really? But why?"

"You look like you have the whole world on your shoulders, and I've seen two people after they've done that," Sally responded lightly, "And I make it a point to help my son's friends; if I can't be there for Percy, I can at least be there for his friends; all of them no matter Roman or Greek."

She said this last part staring straight at Reyna, and the teen thought she realized where Percy got his loyalty and kindness from.

For the first time in her life, Reyna told someone her whole story. She told about how she and her sister had worked for Circe, how that had gone wrong when Percy and Annabeth arrived (Sally commented on how the boy could never leave anything intact and Reyna had to laugh at that), and how she had come to the Roman camp. She told Sally how she and Jason had been co-praetors until he had disappeared. And she told the woman everything about how Octavian was scheming for Jason and Percy's positions, how Percy came into the picture, and how the Greeks had arrived and the chaos that had ensued. She ranted on about how Octavian wanted blood and was pressuring her to do something about it. She even included her conversation with Annabeth and her promise to delay the attack, even though Octavian was sure to find the location of the camp somehow. Finally, she admitted what she thought was obvious to everyone but she still continued to hide it.

That she was alone with too much to handle.

Sally didn't anything, and then she reached out and placed a hand on Reyna's. Reyna looked up at the woman who was looking at her with a comforting expression.

"I can't say I can even comprehend what you are going through, Reyna," the woman began, "But you should know you shouldn't have to go through this ordeal alone."

"But I can't let people see me like this," Reyna protested, "or Octavian will rip me to shreds."

Sally's eyes narrowed, "I'll make sure to have Percy knock Octavian on the head a few times."

Reyna managed a small smile, "Jackson's already managed to humiliate and irritate Octavian. Percy's dealings with Octavian were probably the highlight of the last couple weeks."

Sally smiled warmly, "My son is a good friend to have, Reyna. He's loyal, and if I know him, he probably already thinks Camp Jupiter as his own and he'll protect it just as fiercely as he would Camp Half-blood."

The teen nodded, "He already had begun plans to live a life with Annabeth at New Rome."

Percy's mother smiled, "Really, and he managed to tell her without humiliating himself?"

Reyna shrugged, "That I don't know, but he seemed interested when we walked through New Rome and found out that demigods and their children and live safely there."

"I'll have to tease him about that when he gets back," Sally replied then her gaze saddened and Reyna felt herself praying for Percy and Annabeth's safe return if only to never have to see this woman upset, it was truly depressing.  
>"Tease him about what?" a man's voice came from behind them.<p>

Reyna turned to see a man who looked to be in his mid to late thirties; he had a kind face with a small smile directed towards the woman in front of Reyna.

Sally turned around, "Paul, this is Reyna, she's from the Roman camp."

Paul's smile turned hesitent and looked warily over at Reyna, no doubt he too had heard the news from Chiron. Sally noticed his unease and reassured him, "Reyna's with us, dear. She's been stalling the Romans from finding the camp. And she was a friend of Percy's at the other camp."

At this the man relaxed and sat down beside Sally, "Well then, I'm Paul, Percy's stepdad. And you're just a friend, so you won't have to worry about Annabeth's wrath?"

Sally laughed and shook her head, "No, Percy remembered everything about her. And he remembers us too."

Paul grinned, "Good, I didn't want to have to hide this girl from Annabeth; Percy told me how jealous she can get."

At this Reyna couldn't help add in, "You have no idea."

Sally turned towards her, "Annabeth found out someone had hit on Percy?"

Reyna shook her head and with a blush, "No, she found out I tried to hit on Percy.

She was quick to add, "Only because I really was desperate for some help. Luckily, it was less awkward because he caught on to my meaning."

"Oh what I would have given to see Percy's reaction to that," Paul said wisfully.

Percy's mother added, "I'm surprised Percy can notice these things now."

Reyna smiled, "Well, what I heard and saw, he helped Frank and Hazel get together."

"Percy becoming less oblivoius and a relationship expert, who knew that was possible?" Paul added lightly, his wife nodded with a chuckle.

"He even managed to wear the Praetor toga correctly, though I suspect it was because his brother, Tyson, and Frank had helped him," Reyna added.

Sally was laughing softly when there was a sudden and rapid knocking on the door. Percy's mother stood and walked over to the door and pulled it open. Suddenly, a black haired girl sprung inside saying breathless, "Mrs. Jackson!"

Reyna noticed the agitated looks on the girl as well as the people who were behind her. Sally immediately stiffened and Paul looked worried.

"Come in everyone," Sally managed and she stood aside to allow the others to enter.

A man in a wheelchair entered the room followed by two brown haired boys and Tyson who was crying incessantly and didn't notice Reyna in the room.

"Mrs. Blofis, I'm afraid there's…," the man began in a serious tone.

He was interrupted by the one called Thalia, "There's a Roman here!"

The two brothers immediately sprung in front of Sally and Paul and pointed their swords towards Reyna. Thalia, who Reyna remembered was Jason's sister, had her hand hovering over her bracelet and was watching Reyna carefully, as if daring the Roman to attack.

"Stay away from Percy's family, you filthy yet hot Roman!" one of them snarled.

"Connor!" Thalia scolded.

He waved her off and continued, "Percy Jackson may not be here to defend his family, but we won't let you Romans hurt him through them!"

"Yeah!" the other replied, "We don't care how great and good-looking you Romans think you are! We Greeks are going to take you down!"

Reyna could have laughed if the situation wasn't so serious. Finally, Tyson managed to look over at her and protested, "No! She is friend of brother and Annabeth; she is nice!"

"Maybe she was just luring you in Tyson, so she could use you as bate to draw out Percy!" one of them claimed.

"Really?" Reyna asked, "You think I'm really that much of an idiot to make myself an enemy of Perseus Jackson; I've seen what he's capable of. I made him praetor of the camp; and despite what happened when you Greeks arrived, I still trust him and Annabeth. And I swear to you that I am stalling the Roman attack right now, but hopefully Annabeth will find the mark…"

"She found it," Thalia said suddenly and Tyson started to cry again.

Thalia turned to the two boys, "Lower your weapons."

Jason's sister turned and faced Reyna, "My brother told me about you, and if Tyson likes you, then I'll have to trust you too."

Reyna nodded and relaxed.

"Well, now to the matter at hand," the man in the wheelchair, Chiron, stated.

His serious expression must have spoke volumes to Sally, because she dropped on the couch and looked distressed.

"Sally, the heroes sent a message a couple of hours ago," he began, "They arrived at Rome."

"What happened? Did they find Nico?" Sally questioned.

"Nico di Angelo was rescued from the giants; your son and Jason managed to defeat the twin giants along with some last minute help from Mr. D," Chiron continued, "And Annabeth succeeded in her lone quest."

"She was alone, but what about Percy?" Paul cut in.

Reyna cut in, "She was looking for the Mark of Athena, she told me when the Romans caught up to them in Charleston."

Chiron turned to her and nodded, "And she found it."

Reyna wanted to relax but somehow his tone implied that all did not go well. And based on how Tyson was crying and the miserable looks on the boys and even Thalia, she had a pretty good guess.

"What was so important about this mark?" Paul ventured.

"Mr. Blofis, this "mark" is actually a statue stolen by the Romans years ago. Its discovery and return to its proper place will finally end this Greco-Roman dispute," Chiron answered patiently.

"But Annabeth managed it, so everything's good right? The Romans shouldn't attack Camp Half-blood anymore, right?" he asked hopefully.

"That matter can wait for the moment; there's more to tell," the man answered sadly.

And she felt herself brace for the worst.

Chiron continued, "I'm afraid, that Annabeth was forced to battle her most feared enemy, Arachne."

Sally gasped and grabbed Paul's hand; "Is she…?"

The look on Chiron's face said it all, "When the others came to rescue her and the statue, Arachne's silk had grabbed onto Annabeth's leg. As the area was falling apart, a hole opened down into Tartarus and Arachne fell, pulling Annabeth with her."

Sally looked at Chiron as if reading his expression and her eyes widened.

"Percy must be devastated," Paul stated finally.

Sally looked at Chiron before answering her husband, "No, Paul."

Paul looked at her questioning and Reyna was wondering what she meant.

"Mr. Blofis, Percy jumped with her," Chiron said finally.

Suddenly, the magnitude of what had happened hit Reyna like a Roman phalanx.

Percy and Annabeth were gone.

The amnesiac boy who had wandered in with Juno and the only girl he remembered in the world were gone.

Sally Jackson-Blofis looked like the world was crashing down on her; tears were streaming down her face as Paul wrapped his arms around her. Thalia looked down miserably and the twins stood sullenly. Tyson just began to wail. Even Reyna felt grief for the girl she just met and the boy who had managed to brighten the camp and who managed to irritate Octavian to no end; the good friends she might have had when this war ended.

"There's still hope," Thalia insisted, "Nico says their alive and Percy made him promise to take the others to the doors of death."

Percy's mother suddenly seemed more alert, she looked up at Chiron, "So, there's hope?"

Chiron nodded, "Nico and I are confident that Percy is powerful and resourceful enough to get out, especially since Annabeth is with him. Percy said they would meet them on the other side of the doors in Greece."

Sally nodded though her eyes still showed the pain she was going through, and Reyna couldn't blame her. Even if there was hope, it was a pretty slim one.

"Now to the matter that caused Annabeth to go on this quest," Chiron turned to Reyna, "Child, you do realize that we need peaceful cooperation for the two camps to defeat Gaea?"

Up till now, Reyna didn't know what to think. But if Annabeth had nearly died (or had died) to find that which would bring the two camps together; she owed it to both Annabeth and Percy to bring peace and march over to Greece to end this war.

Reyna smirked as she glanced over at the two brothers, "How do you feel about kidnapping a praetor and threatening the Romans with it?"

Thalia smirked and the brothers answers, "Finally, someone who appreciates our ideas!"

…...

That's chapter 4, enjoy!

Please review, and sorry for the late update!


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